Charlotte 49ers football mailbag: Second-half woes, short passes and missing players

The long-awaited return of college football at Richardson Stadium Saturday night left many of the nearly 16,000 fans in attendance with questions about the Charlotte 49ers’ season-opening loss to James Madison.

Charlotte’s roller-coaster performance, which resembled the drop of Carowinds’ Fury 325 in the second half, was an exercise in offensive ineptitude and predictability.

The 30-7 loss also left fans wondering who would and would not play in this week’s game against North Carolina.

With one of the 49ers’ tallest tasks on the schedule awaiting in Chapel Hill this Saturday, The Observer answers your questions about Poggi’s second-year edition of the 49ers.

Offensive struggles

@TheGhost_Healy: IS there a reason we didn’t see more downfield shots Saturday night?

Florida transfer Max Brown had a few opportunities to push the ball down the field on Saturday, but often turned to throwaways and scrambling when facing pressure. Center Jonny King, the lone returning starter on the offensive line from a season ago, posted Charlotte’s lowest pass blocking grade of 52.7. Guard Mitchell Mayes allowed two pressures.

James Madison kept both safeties high and their corners in soft coverage to prevent big plays, which left Charlotte throwing 5- to 8-yard curls and shallow crosses. Charlotte did mix in play-action but Brown completed just 4 of his 11 attempts.

@Hardhat2005: Felt like Max Brown was under pressure from straight up the middle a lot. Potential solutions for that?

Charlotte ran quite a few designed rollouts to get Brown out of the pocket, but according to Pro Football Focus, Brown was only under pressure on 20% of his dropbacks. King and Mayes must be better in protecting the middle.

Charlotte was also without three guards on the offensive line, with Mo Clipper Jr and PJ Wilkins missing the contest and Texas A&M transfer Jordan Spasojevic-Moko leaving the game with an injury.

@Steven McCachren: How far can Max Brown throw a football?

While I don’t have a specific distance, Brown has connected on the deep ball with regularity through spring and fall. The problem isn’t his ability to put the ball down the field, it’s his choice of where to attack. Charlotte will have to prove they can push the ball down the field for opposing defenses to respect the deep ball.

@Normbulance: Can we expect the offense to open the playbooks more next week?

This question can be looked at a few different ways, but the simple answer is this: Charlotte must adjust its offensive approach to avoid another blowout loss.

Brown was effective in attacking James Madison’s defense with passes of 10 yards or less, completing 18 of his 22 attempts for 116 yards. The rest of the field, however, seemed off-limits at times.

Not including throwaways, Brown threw the ball 20 yards or more six times — all of them incomplete.

The 49ers had the lead and the ball on two occasions in the loss, with both drives ending with an interception. Charlotte must be more aggressive in early down situations, as they averaged just 3.4 yards per play on first down and 9.4 yards on third down.

Whether utilizing Brown’s legs in the run-pass-option, getting the tailbacks involved in the passing attack with screens, finding their leading receiver from a season ago Jairus Mack (0 targets) or getting Henry Rutledge (who played just one offensive snap) involved early, the 49ers have plenty of options to explore.

Injuries and sideline interactions

@Blam49er: How many of the expected 8 or 9 players that were expected to sit out actually did not play?

Of those who were expected to contribute, or start, based on spring training and fall practice, here are the names who didn’t see action on Saturday night.

Offense: OG Mo Clipper Jr. (Tennessee), OG PJ Wilkins, WR Duane Thomas Jr. and RB CJ Stokes (Michigan).

Although not practicing during much of fall camp, Stokes dressed for the game but didn’t see action.

Defense: DT Ayo Tifase (Florida State), LB Aidan Kaler (Stony Brook), S Ja’Qurious Conley (North Carolina), S Mordecai McDaniel (Florida), and DT Jalar Holley.

Head coach Biff Poggi was vague when asked to clarify injury statuses, and has continued to exclude names and positions. The timeline for their return was listed as early as Week 3, against Gardner-Webb.

@Jrolli14: What were your thoughts on Poggi’s reaction to the crucial roughing the kicker call?

In Poggi’s first season, he was as blunt as they come. While he’s been more reserved early in this season, the clip that was caught of him telling assistant coach Dwyan Luckey that he would “fire his ***” wasn’t a good look.

Luckey tore into Colorado transfer Adam Hopkins IV after a crucial roughing the punter call, when a play on the ball wasn’t even attempted — he just ran straight into the kicker.

I’d expect to see a player get chewed out for that and didn’t see an issue with Luckey’s actions. However, Poggi seems to be trying to isolate and eliminate the sideline explosions that were frequent a season ago and this time got caught on camera. Protecting Charlotte’s image, especially on nationally televised games, has to be a top priority for such a young program.

Second-half woes

@NinersClt93: Why did Charlotte abandon the run in the second half?

Trailing by double-digits after the second play from scrimmage in the second half, Charlotte elected to spread the field and put the ball in Brown’s hands.

Charlotte rushed just eight times in the final 30 minutes, including the biggest “what if” moment of the game, when Terron Kellman broke free and nearly went the length of the field, if not for a shoelace tackle. A few plays after Kellman’s 41-yard scamper, Charlotte’s punting unit was back on the field and James Madison had taken full control.

Cartevious Norton, who Poggi had named as the “lead back,” had a rough outing, carrying 10 times for just 11 yards. Wilson was averaging 7 yards a clip. The 49ers’ run game was mildly effective, but the early down struggles put Mike Miller’s offense behind the sticks early and often.

@Gregoryden: What exactly did JMU change at half that caused issues for the Niners?

After five drives in the opening half, which resulted in a turnover on downs, field goal, fumble, interception and another turnover on downs, James Madison’s 33-yard touchdown pass to George Pettaway with less than a minute remaining in the first half gave quarterback Alonza Barnett III all the confidence he needed.

In the second half, James Madison scored on a 73-yard bomb on the second play from scrimmage and would alternate punts and touchdown drives for the remainder of the game. Charlotte linebacker Reid Williford, who led the team with 11 tackles, attributed the second-half shutout to fatigue. Charlotte’s offense was rendered lifeless, and the defense, which saw just 20 snaps from Stone Handy and 14 from Chantz Williams in the entire game, wore down.

Barnett’s ability to break the pocket is what sunk Charlotte’s defense in the second half, accumulating 82 of his 89 rushing yards in the game’s final 30 minutes.

The 49ers will face another mobile quarterback, North Carolina’s Conner Harrell, on Saturday, and must learn from their Week 1.